From: Reviews and Criticism of Vietnam War Theatrical and Television Dramas (http://www.lasalle.edu/library/vietnam/FilmIndex/home.htm) compiled by John K. McAskill, La Salle University ([email protected])

T7600 LA 317e [i.e. TROIS CENT DIX SEPTIEME] SECTION (FRANCE, 1964) (Other titles: Platoon 317; Sangre en Indo-China; Three hundred seventeenth section; Three seventeenth platoon)

Credits: director/writer, Pierre Schoendoerffer. Cast: Jacques Perrin, Bruno Cremer, Pierre Fabre, Manuel Zarzo. Summary: War film set in Laos in May 1954. Follows a French/Laotian platoon during May 1954 (two months before the armistice) as they withdraw through the jungle after the fall of Dien Bien Phu. They are slowly annihilated by ambushes and disease. The film captures the inarticulate anguish and solitude of each man by focusing on a veteran Alsatian sergeant (who fought in the German army in World War II) and a young French officer fresh from military school. Their impersonal, hierarchical and sometimes hostile relationship develops into an unlikely friendship. Both the director Pierre Shoendoerffer and the photographer Raoul Coutard were veterans of the Indochina war.

Alion, Yves, “La 317e section” Revue du cinema/Image et son 457 (Feb 1990), p. 36. Daniel, Joseph. Guerre et cinema [GB] (p. 365-7, 405) Dembrow, Michael (see under Farrell, Alan) Farrell, Alan and Dembrow, Michael. “The 317th platoon (La 317eme section, a.k.a. Platoon 317)” Vietnam war feature filmography (1992 draft) [GB] (p. 405-7) and Vietnam war films [GB] (Entry 595) Freitas, Gary. War movies : the Belle & Blade guide to classic war videos Bandon, OR : Robert D. Reed Publishers, 2004. Graham, Peter. “La 317e section” Film quarterly 19/3 (spring 1966), p. 48-50. ______. [La 317e section] International film guide New York : A.S. Barnes, 1964- (1966, p. 71) Moskowitz, Gene (Mosk). “La 317 section (Platoon 317)” Variety (Mar 10, 1965), p. 6. Shivas, Mark. [317e section] Movie 14 (autumn 1965), p. 41. [317e section] Cahiers du cinema 166-167 (May/Jun 1965), p. 131. [317e section] [Interview with Schoendorffer] Cahiers du cinema 168 (Jul 1965), p. 54. [317e section] Film francais 1085 (Mar 12, 1965), p. 18. [317e section] Jeune cinema 7 (May 1965), p. 4.

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